Fashion for restoration

In a unique approach, Fashion house Fendi pitches in to restore Rome’s popular tourist attraction, the Trevi Fountain

Fashion house Fendi was in the news last year for pledging financial support close to 2.5 milllion Euro to restore the Trevi Fountain in Rome, overseen by Rome’s Superintendence.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome (carved by Pietro Bracci) seen in 2014 while under restoration. Pic/AFP

The construction of Trevi Fountain began in 1732 under architect Nicola Salvi. It was opened in 1762. Today, after eight months of restoration, (also documented on the website dedicated to the fountain) the front facade of the fountain was visible once again to several visitors (nearly 1,700,000) in all its original glory.

The restoration process also involved generating interest among people through the Internet, with the website having a dedicated Selfie section and a special Trevi Fountain app that had been created for smartphones to enable visitors within a 200-metre georeferenced radius to take a selfie.

The photos taken are collected in a dedicated section of the website, which enables each user to receive a poster of the Trevi Fountain personalised with their own photo via email.

The app also allows users to toss a virtual coin into the fountain! One can only hope for a similar venture for Mumbai’s Flora Fountain.